Process for and structure of high density VLSI circuits, having self-aligned gates and contacts for FET devices and conducting lines

ABSTRACT

A process for producing VLSI (very large scale integrated) circuits employs techniques of self-aligned gates and contacts for FET devices and for both diffused conducting lines in the substrate and polysilicon conducting lines situated on isolating field oxide formed on the substrate. Mask alignment tolerances are increased and rendered non-critical. The use of materials in successive layers having different etch characteristics permits selective oxidation of desired portions only of the structure without need for masking and removal of selected material from desired locations by batch removal processes again without use of masking. There results VLSI circuits having increased density and reliability.

This is a division of application Ser. No. 909,886 filed May 26, 1978,U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,881. Concurrently filed herewith is a furtherdivisional application Ser. No. 242,441.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to the field of semiconductor device fabricationtechniques and structures and more particularly to the field offabricating FET devices and conducting lines for interconnecting suchdevices thereby to provide VLSI circuits of increased density andreliability.

2. Prior Art

The semiconductor art has been concerned with reducing the size andpower consumption of individual devices in integrated circuits in orderto increase the logic power of these circuits per unit area. Many thingshave been done over the years to reduce the size of devices and improvetolerances with which they are fabricated. Such efforts have included,inter alia, fine line lithography, improved mask generation andalignment machines, improved tolerances on mask alignment, andself-aligned gates. These techniques have reduced the area required forthe fabrication of the individual FET devices used in these integratedcircuits. However, because of alignment tolerances, prior art FETdevices must be designed with larger geometries than they would have tobe if perfect mask alignment were attained. Consequently, there is aneed for an improved fabrication technique for producing VLSI circuitsincluding FET devices and conducting lines having reduced sensitivity tomask alignment and thereby affording increased density and reliabilityof such devices and circuits.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A process for producing VLSI (very large scale integrated) circuitsemploys techniques of self-aligned gates and contacts for FET devicesand for both diffused conducting lines in the substrate and polysiliconconducting lines situated on isolating field oxide formed on thesubstrate. Mask alignment tolerances are increased and renderednon-critical. The use of materials in successive layers having differentetch characteristics permits selective oxidation of desired portionsonly of the structure without need for masking and removal of selectedmaterial from desired locations by batch removal processes again withoutuse of masking. There results VLSI circuits having increased density andreliability. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, asubstrate is processed so as to contain isolating field regions ofsilicon dioxide surrounding predetermined areas of the substrate onwhich active devices and diffused conducting lines are to be formed. Agate insulator and a gate electrode may be fabricated using conventionaltechniques, extending centrally across a predetermined area on which anactive device is to be formed.

A doped polycrystalline silicon layer is applied to such a wafer and asilicon nitride layer is then applied atop the polysilicon layer. Usingconventional techniques (i.e., photolithographic masking and etching),the silicon nitride layer is selectively removed from the wafer exceptat the regions where the source and drains are to be located and atopthe region where the gate electrode lies. Since these regions are formedsimultaneously by the same masking step, the only alignment problemconcerns the alignment of the region over the gate electrode. However,since the region over the gate electrode only has to be sufficientlylarge so as to make contact with the gate electrode, its alignmenttolerance is not particularly critical.

The substrate wafer, now having nitride "button" regions atop thesource, gate, and drain regions of the FET device to be fabricated, isthen subjected to an oxidation process which cnverts the polysiliconlayer into a silicon dioxide layer everywhere but under the siliconnitride buttons. The silicon nitride buttons protect the respective,underlying portions of polysilicon and prevent their oxidation. Thus,the source, gate, and drain regions are covered by two layer buttonshaving a polysilicon lower layer and a silicon nitride upper layer. Theremainder of the wafer surface is covered with a silicon dioxide layer.Furthermore, the oxidation process drives the dopant ions present in theremaining polysilicon layer portions overlying the source and drainregions into the surface of the bare silicon with which they are incontact with. Thus, the oxidation process simultaneously forms the dopedsource and drain regions as well as forming additional insulatingsilicon dioxide regions, termed cross-overs, separating the source andgate, and the gate and drain contact regions.

The silicon nitride buttons may then be selectively reoved byconventional batch removal means thus exposing conductive polysiliconareas to which contact can be made. It is important to note that noadditional masking steps are required to remove the nitride buttons.Rather, the batch removal process is a selective etch process whereinthe etchant removes the nitride but does not materially affect thenon-nitride (e.g., silicon dioxide) areas. Thus, by the simultaneousfabrication of the source, gate, and drain contacts and the simultaneousdoping of the source and drain regions in conjunction with the formationof the silicon dioxide isolation regions, FET devices can be fabricatedin smaller areas than required for those fabricated by conventionalmeans. The simultaneous fabrication of source, drain, and gate contactsobviates the use of multiple lithographic masking with its requiredguard regions necessitated by the buildup of alignment tolerances. Thereduction or removal of these guard regions is what enables the smallerFET device area.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the basic techniques assummarized above are employed for developing not only transistor orother active devices but also polysilicon conducting lines on the fieldoxide and diffused conducting lines in the substrate, with self-alignedcontacts thereto, enabling the fabrication of entire circuits. Thedecreased size achieved by the techniques of the invention results inhighly dense packing of components and the necessary interconnects forsuch circuit fabrication. Such high density configurations are known asvery large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits. As greater miniaturizationis achieved, of course, the criticality of mask alignment and thusdecreased tolerance to mask misalignment introduces limiting factors onthe ability to achieve the desired density and thus VLSI circuitrequirements. The processes and the resulting products of the invention,by increasing mask tolerance and through use of self-aligned gates andcontacts, and through use of selective etching or material removaltechniques permitting elimination of certain masks, contributes to therealization of VLSI circuits.

In accordance with further embodiments of the invention, both the gateoxide layer and a silicon nitride layer are formed on the surface of asilicon substrate on areas in which active devices, e.g., FETs, anddiffused conducting lines are to be formed, surrounded by field oxide. Apolysilicon layer formed on the nitride layer, is delineated to providethe polysilicon conductor of a gate, i.e., the gate electrode; it thenmay be oxidized on its exposed surface in reliance on the masking effectof the nitride layer. This affords minimal oxide layer thickness on thegate polysilicon layer and again contributes to the reduced device size.Silicon nitride pads, or buttons, can be formed over source and drainregions, polysilicon contact areas and diffused line contact areas, topermit thermal oxidation of the surface of such regions and conductinglines for insulation purposes. Thereafter, a material selective etch isemployed to remove the nitride pads and thus provide a self-alignedcontact surface for interconnection purposes.

The processes of the invention permit direct contact to the gateelectrode as well as floating gate and remote gate contactconfigurations. Diffused conducting lines permit a first levelinterconnect to source and drain, as well as being compatible with adirect gate contact configuration. Conversely, a remote gate contactwith direct source and drain contacts may be afforded. Theoretically,simultaneous and direct source, gate, and drain contacts may be providedalthough current technology limits the miniaturization of device sizeand configuration by virtue of the required dimensions of the conductinglines in such a simultaneous direct contact device configuration.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the following detailed description of certain preferred embodimentsthereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a partial cross-sectional view of a semiconductorsubstrate wafer prior to the fabrication technique in accordance withthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the wafer illustrated inFIG. 1 after the deposition of a polysilicon layer.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the wafer of FIG. 2illustrating the silicon nitride buttons atop the polysilicon layer.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the wafer of FIG. 3 afterbeing subjected to an oxidation process.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of the wafer of FIG. 4 afterthe nitride buttons have been removed and the metallizedinterconnections added.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of a semiconductor substratewafer, prior to device fabrication and in accordance with a furtherembodiment of this invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a mask used for processing the wafer structureof FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the wafer of FIG. 6, taken alongline 8--8 in FIG. 7, indicating the structure resulting from processingin accordance with the mask of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to that of FIG. 8illustrating the development of a field oxide.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view as in FIG. 9 after processing toremove intermediate silicon dioxide and silicon nitride strips extendingbetween the field oxide on the silicon surface.

FIG. 11 is a further cross-sectional view as in FIG. 10 illustrating theapplication of additional silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride,polysilicon, and polysilicon oxide layers on the structure of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a mask for delineating polysilicon portions, such as in thegate and for a conducting line on a field oxide, from the polysiliconlayer of FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view along the line 13--13 of FIG. 12illustrating the structure resulting from photolithographic proceduresusing the mask of FIG. 12 on the structure of FIG. 11.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view as in FIG. 13, illustrating theresults of thermal oxidation to develop an oxide on the polysiliconlayer of the gate and on a polysilicon line, and the masking effectthereof during doping of the source and drain and diffused conductingline.

FIG. 15 is a plan view of a mask for opening contacts to polysiliconlines on the field oxide.

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view along lines 16--16 in FIG. 15,illustrating a contact opened to a polysilicon line on the field oxide.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view along line 17--17 in FIG. 15,illustrating the configuration of a floating gate FET device structure.

FIG. 18 is plan view of a mask for photolithographic processing of thestructure of FIGS. 16 and 17.

FIGS. 19, 20 and 21 are cross-sectional views taken along the lines19--19, 20--20 and 21--21 of FIG. 18, illustrating the resultingstructures after selectively removing the nitride and gate oxide layersfrom portions not protected by an overlying photoresist layer used inthe lithographic process, functioning thereby to expose the substrate inthe source and drain regions (FIGS. 19 and 20) and in the diffusedconducting line region (FIG. 21).

FIG. 22 is a plan view of a mask for providing openings through a Silox(insulating) layer applied to the structure of FIGS. 19-21 to provideincreased electrical insulation.

FIGS. 23, 24, and 25 illustrate the masking processing of the structureof FIGS. 19-21, respectively, after over-sized windows have been openedto the substrate surface in the source and drain and diffused conductingline areas, or regions, and to the contact of the polysilicon line onthe field oxide.

FIGS. 26, 27, and 28 are cross-sectional views corresponding to those ofFIGS. 23 through 25, respectively, showing the disposition of metalconducting lines on the exposed contact surfaces of the structure.

FIG. 29 is a plan view, partly in schematic form, illustrating theconfiguration of a transistor formed in accordance with the inventionand having a direct gate contact and diffused conducting line associatedwith the source and drain regions.

FIGS. 30 and 31 illustrate the formation of a direct gate contact.

FIG. 32 illustrates an electrical integrated circuit which may be aportion of a VLSI circuit.

FIG. 33 is the equivalent electrical schematic of the structure of FIG.32.

FIGS. 34, 35, 36, 37, and 38 illustrates successive steps in theproduction of source, drain, and remote polysilicon line connections andto the diffused line connection, as formed by a further alternative ofthe invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates a partial cross-sectional view of the semiconductorsubstrate after having undergone earlier processing. While the substrate1 is illustrated as comprising a single piece of N or P type silicon, itis to be understood that a composite wafer comprising, for example,silicon-on-sapphire could also equally be used with the process inaccordance with the present invention. By previous procedures, silicondioxide field layers 2 and 3 have been thermally grown on a siliconlayer 1. Apertures 4 and 5 have been provided by conventional maskingtechniques. An area 6, as illustrated in the center of FIG. 1, willultimately be defined to be the gate region and contains the channel ofthe FET device to be fabricated. A silicon dioxide gate insulator layer7 and polycrystalline silicon layer 8 (polysilicon) have been providedatop the gate region 6. The polysilicon layer 8 can either be previouslydoped or may be doped at a later time, depending on its desiredelectrical characteristics. The silicon dioxide layer 7 has beenpreviously fabricated so as to form the gate insulator region of the FETwhile the poysilicon layer 8 serves as the gate electrode of the FET.

A polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) layer 9 is then deposited atopthe surface of the substrate 1. FIG. 2 illustrates the substrate 1 afterthe deposition of the polycrystalline silicon layer 9. Thepolycrystalline silicon layer 9 can be deposited by means of a chemicalvapor deposition technique, for example, and the polycrystalline siliconused is of a doped variety using such dopants as arsenic, boron,phosphorus, etc.

Atop the polysilicon layer 9 is deposited a silicon nitride layer 10.This silicon nitride layer 10 will ultimately be delineated andremaining portions thereof will be used to prevent the oxidation of theunderlying regions of the polysilicon layer 9 during thermal oxidationof exposed areas thereof.

The delineation of the nitride layer 9 is performed by a conventionalmasking process. A layer of photoresist is applied atop the siliconnitride layer 10. This photoresist layer is then exposed to actinicradiation through a photolithographic mask. The areas of the photoresistnot receiving the actinic radiation because of the shielding of the maskare rendered soluble in an appropriate developer solution whereas theareas exposed to the actinic radiation are rendered non-soluble in thesame developer solution. Thus, by processing the substrate 1 in theappropriate developer solution, selected portions of the photoresistlayer are left on the surface of the nitride layer 10. Thephotolithographic mask is arranged so as to render the photoresist layernon-soluable over those regions of the wafer wherein the source, gateand drain contacts are to be located. Thus, after processing thesubstrate 1 in the appropriate developer, photoresist regions willprotect the nitride layer in the regions where source, gate, and draincontacts are to be located.

The wafer 1 is then subjected to a nitride layer removal process (i.e.,etching) to selectively remove the nitride layer 10 not covered by theremaining photoresist layer. After the nitride layer removal step, theremaining photoresist layer is removed by conventional means. Thecross-section of the silicon substrate 1 would then appear asillustrated in FIG. 3. Portions of the silicon nitride layer 10 havebeen left in the region atop the gate area 6 as well as in the regionsatop what will subsequently be defined as the source and drain regions11 and 12 of the FET device.

The substrate 1 is then subjected to a thermal oxidation process whichconverts the exposed polysilicon layer 9 into silicon dioxide. However,substantially all of the polysilicon layer located under the remainingportions of the nitride layer 10 is protected from oxidation andtherefore remains in its original non-oxidized state. As illustrated inFIG. 4, the edges of the gate polysilicon layer 8 in contact with thepolysilicon layer 9 are oxidized to some extent by the oxidationprocess. Furthermore, the same oxidation process drives some of thedopant ions, initially present in the polysilicon layer 9, into thesource and drain regions 11 and 12 of the silicon substrate 1. The gatepolysilicon layer 8 may also be doped by this process. Thus, theoxidation process simultaneously forms the doped junctions of the FETdevice and converts the exposed polysilicon to silicon dioxide. FIG. 4illustrates the wafer after the oxidation process. The polysilicon layer9 has been oxidized in silicon dioxide regions 13 and 14 which serve topassivate the source and drain regions 11 and 12 and provide electricalisolation between the source, drain, and gate contact regions. Note thatpolysilicon regions 15, 16, and 17, located respectively beneath thesource, drain, and gate regions, have not been converted to silicondioxide. Regions 19 and 20 are the now doped source and drain regions ofthe FET device.

The silicon nitride regions are of course directly over the source anddrain regions since they were used to mask the polysilicon layer 9during the formation of the source and drain regions. Since they wereformed simultaneously, the only alignment problem was the non-stringentalignment tolerance of the photolithoghraphic mask with respect to thepreviously formed gate region. The nitride region above the gate area,while not used to form the gate insulator or gate electrode, also doesnot require a very precise alignment tolerance in its placement since itmerely defines an area to which a gate contact will later be formed.Thus, there is no buildup of alignment tolerances and the one alignmenttolerance is not stringent.

The silicon nitride regions are then selectively removed, typicallyusing a phosphoric acid etching process or plasma etching process. Thesubstrate 1 now contains a completed FET device having conductivepolysilicon regions over the source, drain, and gate areas. Theseconductive regions are considerably larger than needed for the finalelectrical connections thereto. Thus, there is no high accuracyalignment required when fabricating the smaller metalization layerinterconnects on top of the larger polysilicon contact areas.Furthermore, the process according to this invention has ensured theproper placement of a silicon dioxide film as part of the side wall ofthe FET junctions to provide electrical isolation as well as reducingthe junction capacitance and thereby providing a low capacitancestructure to enhance the speed of the performance of the FET device.This is particularly important in metal oxide semiconductor devices foruse in N channel MOS type circuits. In addition, the fact that thecontact regions are surrounded by an insulating region (i.e.-silicondioxide layer) allows for non-stringent alignment of the subsequentlyapplied conductor layer.

The resultant structure then is processed by conventional techniqueswhich, for example, would include:

1-Applying a metalization layer.

2-Applying a photoresist layer atop the metalization layer and exposingthe photoresist layer to actinic radiation through a metalizationcontact mask. It is important to note that the metalization contact maskdoes not require stringent alignment tolerances since the processaccording to the present invention can produce relatively largepolysilicon contact areas for the source, gate, and drain regions.Furthermore, since these source, drain, and gate contact regions areseparated by an insulating silicon dioxide layer, one only has to ensurethat the interconnections formed by the metalization layer do notinadvertently contact more than one interconnection region.

3-The unwanted photoresist layer is then removed and the metalizationlayer is selectively etched to produce the various necessaryinterconnections.

4-The metalization layer is annealed and the wafer then subjected toconventional final processing steps.

FIG. 5 illustrates the wafer after the nitride buttons 10 have beenremoved and the metalization layer applied and selectively removed bythe above-noted masking steps. Metalized interconnections 21-23 areshown in direct contact with polysilicon contact regions 15-17,respectively. The silicon dioxide cross-over regions 14 serve toelectrically insulate the metalized interconnections 21-23 from eachother. Furthermore, because the surface of the processed wafer isprotected by an electrical insulator (i.e., silicon dioxide), anymisalignment of the metalization mask, causing overhangs (e.g., 24-26 asillustrated in FIG. 5) of the metalized interconnections do notnecessarily short out the device rendering it inoperable.

A process in accordance with a further embodiment of the presentinvention starts with a wafer 30 of (100 oriented) P-typemonocrystalline silicon 32. A thermal silicon dioxide layer 34 is grownon the entire surface of the wafer to a depth of approximately 800 Å. Asilicon nitride layer 36 is then deposited over the entire wafer to adepth of approximately 575 Å. The wafer at the end of this step isillustrated in cross section in FIG. 6.

A layer 38 of photoresist is disposed on the silicon nitride layer 36and exposed to actinic radiation through an isolation or N mask 100(FIG. 7) having protective portions 104 wherever it is not desired tohave field oxide and, particularly, when active devices or diffusedlines are to be provided in the substrate. Mask region 104T is over thefuture location of a field effect transistor and the mask region 104N isover a future N-type conductive interconnection line. The protectiveportions 104 of the N-mask are opaque or transparent in accordance withthe type of resist being utilized and result in the photoresistthereunder being rendered non-soluble while the remainder of thephotoresist is rendered soluble. Following the exposure of photoresist,the photoresist is developed to remove the soluble portions of thephotoresist. The portions of the silicon nitride layer 36 which are leftunprotected by the removal of the soluble photoresist are removed in anappropriate manner. The portions of the silicon dioxide layer 34 whichare uncovered by the removal of the unprotected portions of the siliconnitride film are removed in an appropriate manner and the wafer appearsin cross section as illustrated in FIG. 8.

Next the remaining photoresist material 38 is removed from the wafer 10and the wafer is exposed to thermal oxidation conditions to grow a fieldoxide 50 to a depth of approximately 9,000 to 12,000 Å on those portionsof the wafer surface which are not protected by a silicon nitride film.FIG. 9 illustrates the wafer at the end of this step.

Following the growth of the field oxide 50, the remainder of the siliconnitride layer 36 is removed in an appropriate manner. The remainder ofsilicon dioxide layer 34 is also removed and the wafer appears as inFIG. 10.

The wafer is exposed to thermal oxidation conditions to regrow a gateoxide layer 54 on the now exposed portions of the silicon wafer. Thisgate oxide preferably has a depth of approximately 800 Å. A secondsilicon nitride film 56 is then deposited over the entire surface of thewafer and exposed to oxidizing conditions to form a silicon oxynitridefilm 58 on the surface of silicon nitride layer 56.

A polysilicon layer 60 is deposited on silicon nitride layer 58 to adepth of approximately 7,500 Å. This polysilicon layer is doped N-type.A silicon dioxide film 62 is thermally grown on the surface of thepolysilicon 60 to a depth of approximately 1,000 Å, and the waferappears as in FIG. 11.

A photoresist layer 64 is formed on the wafer 30 and exposed to actinicradiation through a gate mask 110. Gate mask 110 is illustrated in FIG.12. Mask 110 has protective portions 114 where polysilicon 60 is to beretained over the gate region (portion 114G) or as a conductive path foruse in interconnecting devices (portion 114A). In FIG. 12, one portion114G and portion 114A are shown connected at 115 to form a continuousregion in order to provide a remote contact to the polysilicon of thegate. The other illustrated region 114G is not connected to a region114A because the gate there will be left floating. The connection ofregions 114A and 114G is optional and a function of circuit design. Thealignment of mask 110 with the underlying structure is illustrated byregions 104T and 104N of mask 100 whose locations are shown in phantom.After the photoresist is developed, the silicon dioxide layer 63 has itsunprotected portions removed in an appropriate matter. Portions of thepolysilicon layer 60 which are uncovered by the removal of the silicondioxide are removed in an appropriate manner. The method used to removethe polysilicon is preferably self-terminating at the surface of thesilicon oxynitride layer 58. After removal of the unprotectedpolysilicon, the wafer appears as in FIG. 13.

After the unprotected polysilicon has been removed, the remainingphotoresist material is removed from the wafer and the polysiliconmaterial which remains is thermally oxidized to form a silicon dioxidelayer 66 approximately 5,000 Å thick and the wafer appears as in FIG.14. It is significant to note that the nitride layer 56 is not readilyoxidized and thus its previously provided oxynitride layer 58 does notincrease significantly in thickness during the development of thethermal oxide coatings 66 on the polysilicon lines 60. The thickness ofcoating 66 is made slightly greater than that necessary for ultimateelectrical insulating and integrity characteristics due to subsequentoxide etching steps which are performed without masking, for removal ofthe relatively much thinner gate oxide layer 54 during which a portionof the layer 66 is etched away. Also, in a subsequent processing step,the oxynitride layer 58 will require first an oxide etch prior to thenitride etch to remove the nitride layer 56 in certain predeterminedareas; as well, the oxynitride etch will effect some slight etching ofthe polysilicon oxide layer 66 but will have no deleterious effect duethe relative thicknesses of these two oxide layers.

The source and drain regions of the active device to be formed betweenthe two isolating areas of field oxide 50 as seen in FIG. 14 thus aredefined as underlying those portions of the selected area defined by themask portion 104T (see FIG. 7) which are not part of the composite gatestructure which ultimately will be formed, and which will include thegate polysilicon 60 and its associated thermal oxide layer 66 and thecorresponding lateral extent of the underlying oxynitride layer 58,nitride layer 56, and the underlying silicon dioxide layer 54.

Doping of the source and drain regions is achieved by an implantation ofphosphorus, or alternatively of arsenic, using a 400 keV implanter athigh dosages, illustrated schematically in FIG. 14 by the curved arrowsand the designation "P+", the doping of the diffused conducting linebeing similarly indicated. The resulting implant is indicated by dashlines underlying the source, drain and conducting line cross-sectionalareas as seen in FIG. 14. It is significant that during this ion implantoperation, the thick oxide coating 66 on the polysilicon 60 preventsdoping thereof whereas the nitride does not impede the doping of thedesired regions.

Following the doping, an additional layer 68 of photoresist is formed onthe wafer and exposed to actinic radiation through a polysilicon contactmask 120 which is illustrated in FIG. 15. Mask 120 has nonprotectiveportions where it is desired to form contacts to the polysilicon, or aconnection line (portion 122P). The alignment mask 120 is shown byphantom outlines of mask 100 portions 104T and 104N and mask 110portions 114G and 114A. After development of photoresist 68, the oxide66 over the polysilicon is unprotected at those locations 70 which werein alignment with mask portions 122, that is, where it is desired toprovide contacts to the polysilicon as shown at 70P in FIG. 16. Thisunprotected silicon oxide is removed in an appropriate manner and thewafer appears in cross-section as in FIGS. 16 and 17, with the sectionstaken along line 16--16 and 17--17 in FIG. 15, respectively.

The alignment of mask 120 for the contact region 122P has substantialtolerance, the primary requirement being that the opening 70P notoverlap oxide 66 of any other retained polysilicon portions; thus, thisopening is essentially self-aligning. After the unprotected portions ofoxide 66 have been removed, thereby providing exposed contact areas tothe polysilicon line as seen in FIG. 16, the remaining portions ofphotoresist 68 are removed.

An additional photoresist layer 72 is formed on the wafer and exposed toactinic radiation thorugh an N-type contact mask 130. Mask 130 isillustrated in FIG. 18. Mask 130 has non-protective portions 132, bothin the vicinity of the source and drain regions (portions 132T) and inthe vicinity where contacts to N-type conductive lines are desired(portions 132N). The alignment of mask 130 with the underlying structureis illustrated by phantom outlines of the portions 104T and 104N of mask100, portions 114G and 114A of mask 110, and portion 122P of mask 120.In order to allow for mask misalignment, portions 132T are larger thanthe source and drain areas and portions 132N are wider than theconductive N+ lines.

After development of the resist, the silicon oxynitride layer 58 isunprotected over the source and drain regions and over those location ofthe N-type conductive lines where it is desired to make contacts to thesilicon material. The unprotected portions of the silicon oxynitride 58are removed from the surface of the silicon nitride 56 in an appropriatemanner. As before referenced, the removal of the silicon oxynitride 58does effect some etching of the now unprotected oxide 66 of the gatepolysilicon 60; however, due to the increased thickness of the oxide 66as provided for this purpose, this has no deleterious effect. Theuncovered silicon nitride 56 is removed in an appropriate manner. Theportions of the gate dielectric 54 which become unprotected as a resultof the removal of the unprotected silicon nitride are removed in anappropriate manner thereby uncovering the semiconductor material of thesource and drain regions and N-contact areas. Likewise, as before noted,the relative much thinner oxide layer 54 is etched away very rapidlycompared to the extent of etching of the polysilicon oxide 66 and thusthere is no deleterious effect on the latter during removal of theexposed portions of oxide layer 54. The wafer now appears as illustratedin cross-section in FIGS. 19, 20 and 21 which are taken along sectionlines 19--19, 20--20, and 21--21, respectively in FIG. 18.

After opening of the contact areas to the substrate 32 and thus for thesource and drain regions seen in cross-section in FIGS. 19 and 20 andthe conducting lines seen in cross-section in FIG. 21 the substrate issubjected to an activation, or drive cycle to diffuse the source anddrain regions and the N+ conducting line region and produce the diffusedregions as schematically illustrated in FIGS. 19 through 21.

The remaining photoresist 72 is then removed and a silicon dioxide(e.g., Silox (trademark)) layer 76 having 6 to 8% phosphorus content isdeposited by conventional CVD techniques over the entire wafer. Aphotoresist layer 78 (not shown) is provided on the Silox layer 76 andexposed to actinic radiation through a contact mask 140 which isillustrated in FIG. 22. Mask 140 has non-protective portions 142 overthe field effect transistors (142T), over the regions where contacts tothe polysilicon are to be formed (142P) and over the regions wherecontacts to the N+ lines are to be formed (142N). The alignment of mask140 is illustrated by the phantom outlines of the portions 104T and 104Nof mask 100, portions 114A and 114G of mask 110, portion 122P of mask120, and portions 132T and 132N of mask 130. For the circuitconfiguration illustrated, the alignment of mask 140 must be such thatthe protective region where the Silox is retained thereunder, betweennon-protective region 142T and the portions of polysilicon 60 to whichcontact is to be made, will isolate the latter from the adjacent sourceor drain region, while leaving enough of each exposed to assure goodmetalization contacts to the exposed silicon of the adjacent sourceand/or drain regions, and to the polysilicon 60. The protective regionbetween 142N and the adjacent region 142T must lie where it isolates theN contact from the adjacent source or drain. Similarly, the protectiveregion between region 142P and the adjacent region 142N must isolate thepolycontact region from the N contact region. After the photoresistlayer 78 is developed, the portions of Silox layer 76 over the fieldeffect transistors, the poly line contact regions and the N+ diffusedline contact regions are unprotected. The unprotected Silox 76 isremoved in an appropriate manner and, after removal of the resist 78,the wafer appears as in FIGS. 23 to 25. The cross-sectional views ofFIGS. 23 to 25 respectively correspond to the views of FIGS. 19 through21.

It should be appreciated that the Silox layer 76 is provided as an addedsafeguard, inasmuch as the surfaces over which the Silox is applied aresufficient in and of themselves to provide electrical insulation.However, the Silox does afford a greater tolerance for the metalizationmask employed in the definition of conductors which contact the variouscontact areas. In addition, the Silox provides additional dielectricover the conducting elements, such as polysilicon line 60 including thegate polysilicon of the active device, whereby conductive lines (e.g.,metalization) applied thereover as may occur on the field region or byoverlap of source and drain contact conductors onto the gate oxide, donot produce capacitive coupling to the gate electrode, as might occur ifonly the thinner layer of polysilicon oxide 66 were relied upon for thisinsulating purpose.

Inasmuch as the desired metalization pattern for conductive lines isnon-critical, no such mask has been illustrated in these figures.Nevertheless, FIGS. 26 through 28 do provide cross-sectionalillustrations of the formation of metalization. Prior to themetalization, it is preferred that a reflow cycle be performed to smoothin the edges of the Silox and thus provide a better surface forapplication of the metalization layer.

In FIG. 26, the metal contacts to the source and drain regions areindicated at 80S and 80D, respectively, and the metal contact of thepoly line 60 is indicated at 80P. As before noted, the Silox layer 76affords increased dielectric spacing between the metal conductors andthe gate electrode, for example, as may readily be seen in FIG. 26.

As is apparent from the cross-sectional size of the conductors, the"windows" or openings formed by the metalization mask through the Siloxlayer may be substantially over-sized relative to the contact areas tothe source and drain, and diffused conducting line.

The process and techniques of the invention may also be employed toprovide a direct contact to the gate structure. Whereas it is at leasttheoretically possible in accordance with the teachings of thisinvention to provide direct contacts to each of the source, gate, anddrain regions of an FET, as a practical matter the spacing of thesimultaneous direct contacts becomes so critical that this does notrecommend itself as a practical production technique with the currentstate of technology. Hence, the following discussion will illustrateonly the provision of a direct gate contact with remote source and drainconnections provided illustratively through diffused lines constituting,in essence, extensions of the diffused regions forming the source anddrain.

In FIG. 29, the mask 120 of FIG. 15 is shown in altered fashion as mask120' to include a diffused line 104N-S connecting to the source and104N-D connecting to the drain of the FET defined at 104T'. The outlineof the gate area defined by mask portion 114G of mask 110 of FIG. 12remains as before. The mask portion 122G defines an area in which anunderlying photoresist layer will not be protected and thus will beremoved. Particularly, the mask 120' of FIG. 29 would be used inconjunction with a photoresist layer applied over the structure formedin accordance with the process of this invention as shown in FIG. 14.Mask portion 122G of FIG. 29 would serve to remove the photoresistmaterial overlying the gate polysilicon layer 60 and its associatedoxide 66 so as to permit an etchant to remove the oxide layer 66 toachieve the direct gate contact. Particularly, with reference to thecross-sectional view of FIG. 30 taken along line 30--30 and FIG. 29, thephotoresist 68 is removed in the region 70G to expose the silicondioxide layer 66 surrounding the gate polysilicon layer 60. In the gateregion, an oxide etch may therefore be employed to remove the silicondioxide layer 66 and expose the polysilicon layer 60 of the gate region.

Alternative process steps may then be employed as desired to completethe structure. For example, since N+ diffused lines will provideexternal connection to source and drain regions, there is no need toremove the nitride layer 56 or its associated oxynitride layer 58, orthe underlying gate oxide layer 54 from the surfaces of the source anddrain regions, since no direct contact thereto will be required in thisconfiguration. Alternatively, the drain and source may be delineated inaccordance with processing as shown in FIGS. 18 through 20 such that thesource and drain regions are exposed. In this instance, mask portion122G of FIG. 29 must be confined more precisely to be in alignment withthe gate structure and, particularly, preferably opens a window ofapproximately the same width as the width of the polysilicon line 60through the overlying silicon dioxide layer 66.

In either case, after removal of photoresist 68, or photoresist 72,depending upon which alternative is selected, a Silox layer 76, asemployed in conjunction with FIGS. 22 through 25, is applied and forpurposes of the direct gate contact transistor in question, a masksubstantially corresponding to that of FIG. 29 having an enlargednonprotective mask portion 122G is employed to open a window through theinsulating Silox layer 72, thereby exposing the silicon layer 60 and itsoxide layer 66 of the gate through the window. A metalization layer withsuitable masking is employed to define the direct gate contactconducting line. The final structure particularly is as illustrated inFIG. 31 wherein the metal conducting line 80G making direct contact tothe gate region is seen, deposited onto the gate polysilicon conductor60 (after removal of the oxide layer 66) through the opening in theSilox layer 76 provided therefor.

Numerous salient features of the process of the invention and theresulting VSLI structure obtained should now be apparent. In the maskingand photoresist protection of FIGS. 6 through 8, the field oxide isselectively grown initially in those areas intended to isolate activedevices and diffused N+ lines from one another.

Subsequent deposition steps are preferably performed on the smoothsurface of a new thermally grown oxide. Thus, as seen in FIG. 11, a newsilicon oxide layer 54 is thermally grown on the surface of the siliconwafer 32. That thermal oxidation will typically produce additionalthickness of the field oxide 50. The nitride layer 56 which is appliedover the newly grown oxide layer 54, including the field oxide 50,provides protection in subsequent etching steps, particularly in regardto opening a contact window to a polysilicon line such as 60, so as notto undercut the underlying field oxide 50 on which the polysilicon line60 is formed and thus expose a side portion of the N+ conductive line 54as might otherwise occur during etching performed in accordance withmask 120 of FIG. 15. By comparison of FIGS. 14, 15, and 16, it will beseen that the mask 122p which serves to open a window to the oxide 66formed on the polysilicon line 60 is preferably of substantial extent tomaximize alignment tolerances, and in fact may overlap onto the surfaceof the N+ line 54. The silicon nitride layer 56 permits the selectiveremoval of the oxide without attacking the underlying field oxide andthus avoids the problem of the inadvertent opening of the sidewall ofthe N+ line to which an unwanted electrical connection might later occurin the metalization step for applying metal contacts to these contactareas.

With reference to FIGS. 13 and 14, the use of the nitride layer 56 isalso seen to be significant in that it permits the thermal oxidation ofthe gate polysilicon 60 and the polysilicon line 60 on the field oxide50, without developing undesired thermal oxides in the areas over othercontact regions ultimately to be defined, such as the source and drainregions of the active device associated with the gate and the N+ linecontact area.

It is also significant that the nitride layer 56 may be removed fromthose contact areas by a batch etch and thus without the requirement ofany further mask and attendant alignment problems, since a conventionalwet etch can remove the nitride without attacking the oxide layer 66formed on the gate polysilicon 60 and the polysilicon line 60.

In proceeding from FIG. 18 to FIG. 19, mask alignment tolerances againare non-critical since the gate polysilicon 60 remains protected by thevery thick, thermally grown silicon dioxide layer 66. Thus, the exposedareas of the nitride layer 56 as defined by the mask 130 can beselectively removed, followed by a removal of the remaining portion ofthe silicon dioxide layer 54 thereby to expose the surface of thesilicon 32 in the regions intended to define the source and drain of theactive device. In this removal step, the oxynitride layer 58 must beetched by an oxide etch and as well the gate oxide layer 54 must beremoved by an oxide etch; however, the thinness of these layers relativeto the thickness of the oxide layer 66 on the gate polysilicon 60permits the use of batch etch processes, without adversely affecting theintegrity or electrical insulating characteristics required of the oxide66 of the gate polysilicon 60.

Proceeding to FIG. 21, it is also clear that the silicon nitride layer56 may be removed over the N+ line by a selective nitride etch, whichcorrespondingly does not attack the field oxide 50. The window thusopened through the nitride layer 56 exposes the silicon dioxide layer 54overlying the N+ line, which may be removed by an oxide etch. Thethinness of the oxide layer 54, as before, permits its removal withoutdeleteriously affecting the oxide layer 66 of the gate polysilicon 60,or the field oxide 50 due to the relatively greater thickness of thelatter oxides.

In the final structure, minimal device geometry between source and drainis achieved since the displacement therebetween is defined only by thewidth of the gate structure, which has been minimized by the thermallygrown oxide layer 66 on the gate polysilicon layer 66, which need beonly sufficiently thick so as to afford the requisite electricalisolation of the gate polysilicon 60 from the adjoining contacts to thesource and drain. In essence, electrical operating levels of theresultant device will determine the thickness necessary to assureadequate electrical insulation and isolation. In this regard, therefore,the device geometry and size may be minimized, as desired, limited onlyby the necessary thickness of the gate polysilicon oxide 66 necessaryfor this isolation purpose.

FIGS. 32 and 33 illustrate a practical circuit application of theprocess just described of employing diffused conducting lines forconnecting to the source and drain regions of an FET, with the featureof a direct gate contact conducting line.

FIG. 32 is a partial plan view of a portion of a semiconductor substratecontaining elements fabricated in accordance with the present invention.Illustrated are field effect transistor devices Q₁ and Q₂ each having asource, gate and drain. Connected to the respective sources oftransistors Q₁ and Q₂ are diffused N+ lines 801 and 803 which have beeninterconnected by means of diffused N+ line 806. Similarly, the drainsof transistors Q₁ and Q₂ are interconnected to each other by means ofdiffused N+ lines 802, 805, and 807. All of these diffused lines may bedelineated simultaneously by means of the N-mask step. As illustrated inFIG. 32, diffused N+ lines 806 and 807 can extend in various directionson the substrate so as to interconnect with a plurality of additionaldevices. It is of course also possible to provide one or more contactregions to directly interconnect the N+ diffused lines 806 and 807 tothe subsequent metalized interconnections delineated in the M-mask step.

The gates of transistors Q₁ and Q₂ are illustrated as being connected topolysilicon lines 800 and 804, respectively. These remote polysiliconlines could be connected to other portions of the circuitry contained onthe substrate. In many cases, however, a direct contact rather than aremote contact would be provided so as to directly connect the gates ofthe transistors to the metalized interconnections delineated by theM-mask step.

FIG. 33 schematically illustrates the portion of the substrate circuitryillustrated in FIG. 32. Like designators of the elements in FIG. 33correspond to like elements in FIG. 32.

An important usage for the circuitry shown in FIGS. 32 and 33 would bein the fabrication of monolithic random access memories or read onlymemories having a large number of memory elements. As indicated in theSummary of the Invention, the disclosed fabrication process lends itselfto the fabrication of circuits having active devices and associatedinterconnects having substantially reduced surface area in comparison tocircuitry fabricated by prior art methods. Since there are inherent sizelimitations in the surface area of the silicon substrates contained inintegrated circuit chips, the advantageous reduction in the overallsurface area of the elements fabricated in accordance with the presentinvention allows for the production of integrated circuit chips havinggreater numbers of memory elements. For example, the invention rendersit feasible to produce random access memory chips in accordance with thepresent invention having 256 kilobits of memory storage capabilitywhereas present day prior art fabrication techniques have only been ableto produce commercially feasible random access memory chips having 32kilobits of memory storage capability.

The masking effect of the nitride layer as utilized in the process stepsdiscussed hereinbefore, such as for producing the silicon dioxide layers66 on the polysilicon lines 60 (see, e.g., FIG. 14) may be furtherextended to facilitate opening contacts to a polysilicon line, or gateelectrode, as well as to the source and drain of a transistor, and to adiffused line. This technique is shown in the following FIGS. 34 through38 which moreover present an alternative approach mentioned earlierregarding the gate oxide layer. With reference to FIGS. 9 and 10, oxidelayer 34 and nitride layer 36 were stripped from the surface of silicon32 following development of the field oxide 50. As before explained,this is preferable in most cases since the gate oxide may then beregrown on the surface of silicon 32, as shown at 54 in FIG. 11, afterwhich a new silicon nitride layer 56 is formed on the combined fieldoxide 50/gate oxide 54 surface.

FIG. 34 illustrates an alternative in which the original gate oxidelayer 34 and the original nitride layer 36 are retained, following theformation of the field oxide 50. Following steps corresponding to thoseof the mask of FIG. 12 and the resulting structures of FIGS. 13-15, apolysilicon layer is deposited on the nitride layer 36 and a polysiliconline 60 is delineated on the surface of field oxide 50. Ion doping ofthe resulting structure is performed as illustrated in FIG. 9.

With reference to FIG. 35, a second silicon nitride layer is then formedon the surface defined in FIG. 34, followed by application of aphotoresist layer (not shown) and a mask (not shown). To create thestructure of FIG. 35, the mask includes protective areas over thesource, drain, polysilicon line contact, and diffused line contactpositions. After exposure of the photoresist, remaining areas ofphotoresist are removed to expose underlying portions of the siliconnitride layer which exposed portions then are removed by suitable etchor other nitride removal process. There results the structure shown incross-section in FIG. 35 in which there remains silicon nitride pads, orbuttons, overlying these intended contact areas. Particularly, thenitride button 200 remains on the nitride layer 34 overlying the sourceregion, the nitride button 202 similarly overlies the drain region,nitride button 204 overlies the contact to the polysilicon line 60 onthe field oxide 50, and then nitride button 206 overlies the contactposition to the N+ line. As shown, these nitride buttons may be enlargedto overlap and extend along the surface of the field oxide 50 adjacentthe intended contact areas.

In this alternative process, an initial oxide layer 66A is formed on thepolysilicon 60, both in the gate and on the field oxide, by thermaloxidation. After the silicon nitride pads are formed as shown in FIG.35, the structure is subjected to further thermal oxidation or producethe desired thickness of silicon dioxide layer 66B on the gatepolysilicon 60 and on the polysilicon line 60 on the field oxide 50. Thenitride buttons, however, prevent the development of any significantamount of oxide on the respective underlying areas of the structure. Thenitride buttons thereafter are removed by a selective material etchwhich removes nitride without attacking oxides and the resultingstructure is shown in cross-section in FIG. 36. At this juncture, thethin gate oxide layer 34 remains over the surface of the source anddrain, whereas the relatively thick (approximately 5000 Å) layer ofsilicon dioxide 60B remains on the gate polysilicon line 60 whereas onlya relatively thin layer of oxide 66A remains on the polysilicon line 60on the field oxide 50 in the contact area to that polysilicon line. Therelatively thin gate oxide remains covering the source and drain areasand the N+ diffused line contact area. The relatively thin silicondioxide layers 34 and 66A can be removed merely by time-controlled oxideetching, without deleteriously affecting the oxide layer 66B.Preferably, however, a doped layer of silicon dioxide (Silox) is formedon the entire surface of the structure of FIG. 36 and, by suitablemasking, windows are opened through the Silox layer to expose theoxide-covered contact surfaces of the source and drain regions, thepolysilicon line 60 on the field oxide 50, and the surface of thesubstrate 32 at the diffused line contact. The resulting configurationof the structure including the Silox layer 72" is shown in FIG. 38wherein the contacts are now exposed through windows opened through tothe Silox layer 72". Suitable conductive lines may be now be applied tothese exposed contact areas in the manner as hereinbefore described withthe resulting structure appearing substantially as in FIGS. 36 through38.

As before noted, and pointed out with respect to FIGS. 29 through 31, asimilar nitride pad or button can be formed alternatively on the gateoxide to achieve the direct gate contact structure of FIG. 31.

In summary, the present invention affords processes and resultingstructures for achieving minimum size transistor devices and efficientand dense arrangements of polysilicon conducting lines and diffusedlines in the substrate. These are the basic ingredients of achievinghigh density, or very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits, briefexamples of which have been shown hereinabove. Significant to the highdensity capability and miniaturization of device size are the featuresof self-aligned gates and contacts accomplished by the process of theinvention. Tolerances on mask alignment are substantially improved andincreased such that even where masking steps are employed in the variousembodiments of the processes disclosed, mask alignment is noncritical.In general, windows to be opened through appropriate layers can beover-sized to increase the mask alignment tolerance, without introducingthe possibility of short circuiting to any active or conductive regionor structure.

Numerous modifications and variations of the process and devicestructures and configurations and of integrated circuit designsincorporating such devices will be apparent to those of skill in theart. For example, whereas N channel devices have been disclosed, it willbe apparent that P channel devices instead can be made by this process.The processes have been illustrated as employing bulk silicon, butsilicon layers on other substrates, such as silicon-on-sapphire, may beemployed in the alternative.

These and other modifications and adaptations of the process andresulting structures and integrated circuits in accordance with thisinvention as disclosed herein will be apparent to those of skill in theart, and thus it is intended by the appended claims to cover all suchmodifications and adaptations which fall within the true spirit andscope of the invention.

I claim:
 1. A process for fabricating a field effect semiconductordevice on a mononcyrstalline silicon substrate having a first surface onwhich said device is to be formed, comprising the steps of:thermallyoxidizing the surface of said semiconductor substrate to form a firstsilicon dioxide layer thereon, forming a first silicon nitride layer onsaid first silicon dioxide layer, retaining portions of said firstsilicon nitride layer and the corresponding underlying first silicondioxide layer overlying a selected area of said substrate surface andremoving remaining portions of said first silicon nitride and silicondioxide layers to expose said substrate surface outside said selectedarea, thermally growing a field oxide on said exposed surface of saidsubstrate surrounding said selected area, removing said first siliconnitride and silicon dioxide layers, thermally growing a second silicondioxide layer on said selected area, forming a second silicon nitridelayer on said second silicon dioxide layer on said field oxide, forminga thin silicon oxynitride layer on said second silicon nitride layer,depositing a layer of doped polysilicon on said silicon oxynitridelayer, delineating said polysilicon layer to define a gate polysiliconlayer extending transversly of said selected area for said device and todefine at least one polysilicon conducting line on said second nitridelayer over said field oxide and removing remaining portions of thepolysilicon layer, said gate polysilicon layer defining first andsecond, remaining portions of said selected area corresponding to sourceand drain regions of said device and comprising the electrode of thegate of said device, oxidizing the surfaces of said gate polysiliconlayer and of said at least one polysilicon conducting line whileretaining said second silicon nitride layer over said source and drainregions of device to prevent the formation of any substantial amount ofthermal oxide on said source and drain regions, removing exposedportions of said second silicon nitride layer by a material selectiveremoval process including said silicon oxynitride layer formed thereon,thereby to expose the underlying said second silicon dioxide layer onsaid source and drain regions, removing the portions of said secondsilicon dioxide layer uncovered by removal of said portions of saidsecond nitride layer, thereby to expose the surface of said substrate atsaid source and drain regions of said device and provide self-alignedvias for contacts to said source and drain regions of said device.
 2. Aprocess as recited in claim 1, further comprising, after oxidizing thesurface of said gate polysilicon layer, implanting ions into saidsubstrate for doping of said selecting areas, said silicon dioxideinsulating layer formed on said gate polysilicon layer preventing dopingof said substrate in the respectively underlying portion thereof.
 3. Aprocess as recited in claim 1 further comprising:subsequently tooxidizing the surfaces of said gate polysilicon layer and of said atleast one polysilicon conducting line, selectively removing at least aportion of the oxide layer formed on the gate polysilicon layer toexpose the surface of same and thereby afford a via for a contactdirectly to the gate of the device.
 4. A process as recited in claim 3,further comprising:subsequently to the step of removing the portions ofsaid second silicon dioxide layer, providing conductive lines extendingover said field oxide and into contact with the exposed surfaces of saidsource and drain regions of said selected active device and to saidexposed surface of said gate polysilicon layer to provide electricalconnection thereto.
 5. A process for fabricating very large scaleintegrated circuits including field effect semiconductor devices anddiffused conducting lines on a monocrystalline silicon semiconductorsubstrate having a first surface on which said integrated circuits areto be formed, comprising the steps of:forming a field oxide on saidfirst surface surrounding and isolating selected areas of said firstsurface on which respectively corresponding said devices and diffusedconducting lines are to be formed, each said device including source anddrain regions in the corresponding said selected area and, for at leasta selected such device, diffused conducting lines extending in commonfrom respective said source and drain regions thereof to a position insaid substrate remote from the gate of said selected device, thermallygrowing a silicon dioxide layer on said selected areas of said firstsurface, of a thickness suitable for the gate insulator layer of saiddevice, forming a silicon nitride layer on said silicon dioxide layerextending at least over said selected areas, oxidizing said siliconnitride layer to form a silicon oxynitride layer thereon, depositing alayer of doped polysilicon on said silicon oxynitride layer, delineatingsaid polysilicon layer to define a gate polysilicon layer extendingtransversely of said selected area for each said device and to define atleast one polysilicon conducting line on said field oxide, and removingremaining portions of the polysilicon layer, said gate polysilicon layerdefining first and second, remaining portions of said selected areacorresponding to said source and drain regions to be formed for eachsaid device and comprising the electrode of the gate of said device,oxidizing the surfaces of said gate polysilicon layer and of said atleast one polysilicon conducting line while retaining the siliconnitride layer over said selected areas including said source and drainregions of each said device and said diffused conductive lines toprevent the formation of any substantial amount of thermal oxide on saidsource and drain regions, doping said source and drain regions and saiddiffused conducting lines, selectively removing a portion of theoxidized surface of said gate polysilicon layer for exposing same andaffording a via for a direct contact to the gate of said device,removing the silicon oxynitride layers formed on the silicon nitridelayers at least in the areas overlying said source and drain regions,and selectively removing portions of the silicon nitride layer overlyingthe said diffused conducting lines associated with said source and drainregions of each said selected device to expose the surfaces thereof atsaid remote positions thereof to provide vias for contacts thereto,removing any oxide material exposed by removal of the silicon nitridelayer, and providing conductive lines extending over said field oxideand into contact with said remote, exposed portions of the surfaces ofsaid diffused conducting lines associated with said source and drainregions of each said selected device and into contact with the exposedsurface of said gate polysilicon layer to provide electrical connectionthereto.
 6. A process for fabricating very large scale intergratedcircuits including field effect semiconductor devices and conductinglines on a monocrystalline silicon semiconductor substrate having afirst surface on which said integrated circuitsaare to be formed,comprising the steps of:forming a field oxide on said first surfacesurrounding and isolating selected areas of said first surface on whichrespectively corresponding said devices are to be formed, each saiddevice including source and drain regions in the corresponding saidselected area and a gate on said substrate intermediate said source anddrain regions thermally growing a silicon dioxide layer on said selectedareas of said first surface, of a thickness suitable for the gateinsulator layer of the gates of said devices, forming a silicon nitridelayer on said silicon dioxide layer extending at least over saidselected areas, oxidizing said silicon nitride layer to form a siliconoxynitride layer thereon, depositing a layer of doped polysilicon onsaid silicon oxynitride layer, delineating said polysilicon layer todefine a gate polysilicon layer extending transversely of said selectedarea and comprising the electrode of the gate for each said device andto define at least one polysilicon conducting line on said field oxide,and removing remaining portions of the polysilicon layer, said gatepolysilicon layer defining first and second, remaining portions of saidselected area corresponding to said source and drain regions to beformed for each said device, oxidizing the surfaces of said gatepolysilicon layer and of each said polysilicon conducting line whileretaining the silicon nitride layer over said source and drain regionsof each said device to prevent the formation of any substantial amountof thermal oxide on said source and drain regions, and selectivelyremoving a portion of the oxidized surface of said gate polysiliconlayer of at least a selected said device for exposing same and affordinga via for a direct contact to the gate of said selected device.
 7. Aprocess as recited in claim 6, further comprising:providing a conductiveline extending over said field oxide and into contact with said exposedsurface of said gate polysilicon layer to provide electrical connectionto the gate of each said selected device.
 8. A process as recited inclaim 5 or 6, further comprising:subsequently to selectively removing aportion of the oxidized surface of said gate polysilicon layer forexposing same and affording a via for contact thereto, for each saidselected device, selectively removing portions of the silicon nitridelayer including at least the corresponding portions of said siliconoxynitride layer thereon overlying the source and drain regions in thecorresponding said selected area for at least certain of said devicesthereby to expose the underlying said silicon dioxide layer on saidsource and drain region, removing the portions of said silicon dioxidelayer uncovered by removal of said portions of said silicon nitridelayer, thereby to expose the surfaces of said source and drain regionsto afford self-aligned vias for contacts thereto.
 9. A process asrecited in claim 5 or 7, further comprising:subsequently to the step ofselectively removing a portion of the oxidized surface of said gatepolysilicon layer for exposing same and affording a via for contactthereto, for each said selected device, removing the portions of saidsilicon nitride layer by a material selective removal process, therebyto expose the underlying said silicon dioxide layer on said source anddrain regions, removing the portions of said silicon dioxide layeruncovered by removal of said portions of said second silicon nitridelayer, thereby to expose the surface of said substrate at said sourceand drain regions and afford self-aligned vias for contacts to saidsource and drain regions of said device, providing conductive linesextending over said field oxide and into contact with said exposedsurfaces of said gate polysilicon layer and of said source and drainregions to provide electrical connection thereto.
 10. A process forfabricating a field effect semiconductor device on a monocrystallinesilicon substrate having a first surface on which said device is to beformed, comprising the steps of:forming a field oxide on said firstsurface surrounding and isolating a selected area of said first surfaceon which said device is to be formed, said device including source anddrain regions in said selected area and a gate intermediate said sourceand drain regions, thermally growing a silicon dioxide layer on saidselected area of said first surface, of a thickness suitable for thegate insulator layer of said device, forming a silicon nitride layer onsaid silicon dioxide layer extending at least over said selected areas,forming a layer of silicon oxynitride on said silicon nitride layer,depositing a layer of doped polysilicon on said silicon oxynitridelayer, delineating said polysilicon layer to define a gate polysiliconlayer extending transversely of said selected area for said device andremoving remaining portions of the polysilicon layer, said gatepolysilicon layer defining first and second, remaining portions of saidselected area corresponding to said source and drain regions to beformed for each said device and comprising the electrode of the gate ofsaid device, oxidizing the surfaces of said gate polysilicon layer whileretaining the silicon nitride layer over said source and drain regionsof said device to prevent the formation of any substantial amount ofthermal oxide on said source and drain regions, and selectively removinga portion of the oxidized surface of said gate polysilicon layer forexposing same and affording a via for a direct contact to the gate ofsaid device.
 11. A process as recited in claim 10, furthercomprising:removing the silicon oxynitride formed on the silicon nitridelayers at least in the areas overlying said source and drain regions,and selectively removing portions of the silicon nitride layer overlyingsaid source and drain regions of said device to expose the surfacesthereof and removing any oxide material layer portions exposed byremoval of the silcon nitride layer, thereby providing vias for contactsthereto, and providing conductive lines extending over said field oxideand through said vias into contact with said exposed portions of thesurfaces of said source and drain regions and into contact with theexposed surface of said gate polysilicon layer to provice electricalconnection thereto.
 12. A process as recited in claim 10, furthercomprising:forming said field oxide on said first surface to surroundand isolate further selected areas of said first surface on whichrespectively corresponding diffused conducting lines are to be formed,extending from respective said source and drain regions to a positionremote from the gate of said device, simultaneously with said selectedarea, thermally growing said silicon dioxide layer on said furtherselected areas of said first surface, of a thickness suitable for thegate insulator of said device and forming said silicon nitride layer onsaid silicon dioxide layer extending at least over said selected andsaid further selected areas, removing any oxide material layer portionsexposed by removal of the silcon nitride layer selectively removingportions of the silicon nitride layer overlying the said diffusedconducting lines associated with said source and drain regions of saiddevice to expose the surfaces thereof at said remote positions thereofto provide vias for contacts thereto, and providing conductive linesextending over said field oxide and through said vias into contact withsaid remote, exposed portions of the surfaces of said diffusedconducting lines associated with said source and drain regions of saiddevice and into contact with the exposed surface of said gatepolysilicon layer to provide electrical connection thereto.